Federation Council head against revising privatization

Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Sergey Mironov is against revising the results of privatization; however, criminal violations in the course of privatization must be considered. He voiced his opinion to journalists after today's meeting of the council of the upper house. In Mironov's opinion, privatization was unfair for many Russians. But he stressed that "it was held under the laws of that time"; this is why one should not revise its results, otherwise "this could trigger great property redistribution" followed by "destabilization of the Russian economy". In addition, Mironov believes that "the impossibility to revise the results of privatization should not be set by law". In the opinion of the Federation Council Chairman, the situation can be improved if the approach to royalties is revised. He pointed out that royalties had long been levied, but "it is levied unfairly" as one did not take into account mining and geological conditions at deposits and earning excess profits due to the foreign market environment. Mironov supports revising royalty levying. He believes that law should make "royalties work for people". One half of the royalties must go to the development budget, the other half - for social programs, army and healthcare, in the opinion of the official.